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How to Turn a $.99 into a $300 game

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
May 5, 2008
24,276
27,385
The Misty Mountains
Forget to assign a Restrictions password ((Under Settings>General) and not turn "Off" In-App purchases, then turn over the iPad to your 10 year old Grandchild, who proceeds to buy 2500 donuts in the Simpsons game, lol. Yes, this happened to my wife, and despite that sinking feeling, Apple gave me a one time get-out-of-jail-free pass and removed the charges. Now I got all kinds of restrictions on that iPad turned on. :D
 
Mmmmmmm... Donuts. :D

PinkDonutsfromQwik-E-Mart.jpg


Expensive snack.
 
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I added a photo to illustrate the allure. ;)

All of those "in game purchase" apps are potential wallet-drainers if in the wrong hands. Kids, particularly, don't realize that there's real money on the other end of the goodies. It's so easy to get the stuff. And the iOS has nothing to do with it. It happens on Android, too.
 
Its nice that Apple was cool and realized that sometimes crap happens and they removed the charges for you.



However, there is a more important issue that needs to be addressed. Did she get to keep the donuts?!?!?! lol
 
This is why I sometimes prefer IOS over android. Apple's customer support is sometimes very cool
 
lelisa13p said:
I added a photo to illustrate the allure. ;)

All of those "in game purchase" apps are potential wallet-drainers if in the wrong hands. Kids, particularly, don't realize that there's real money on the other end of the goodies. It's so easy to get the stuff. And the iOS has nothing to do with it. It happens on Android, too.
Click to expand...

Agreed! The problem sometimes is that there are in-game money/credits, that can be earned in-game or for the impatience ones can be purchased outright. I don't think our Grandson realized he was dealing with real money. I am very wary of games that cost $.99, but then pimp you every 10 minutes for money. We've all ready dealt with a zombie game that keeps asking you to buy brains. They appear to be hard to earn in the game. And the Simpsons game is on my ****-list is very annoying in that apparently it plays in the background and periodically makes announcements, including in the middle of the night.

Sylon said:
Its nice that Apple was cool and realized that sometimes crap happens and they removed the charges for you.

However, there is a more important issue that needs to be addressed. Did she get to keep the donuts?!?!?! lol
Click to expand...

Apple was VERY COOL about this and I thanked them. This is not the first time Apple has made me a diciple. ;) I don't know if we kept the donuts or not. Apple may have just wiped the charges.

Among the items I have turned off through the Restrictions settings are in-game purchases, installing and deleting apps, and multiplayer games
 
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You are asked for your iTunes account password for in app purchases.
Anyone that would give that out to a grandchild is, well... asking for trouble.
 
iAmYou said:
You are asked for your iTunes account password for in app purchases.
Anyone that would give that out to a grandchild is, well... asking for trouble.
Click to expand...

It boils down to ignorance of the situation and understanding the extent to which charges like these could pile up. I know Apps can be purchased but never dreamed it could be that kind of a monetary threat in-game in a child's game. Even so, I have been proactive in removing games that are constantly hitting the player up for purchases. This happened when I was not around and now we, both me and my wife are now educated and restrictions are in place. :) Honestly I am not sure if every purchase in-game requires a password or not. The "restriction" password separate from a iTunes password seems to indicate this is a known issue on IOS devices.
 
Huntn said:
< snip > And the Simpsons game is on my ****-list is very annoying in that apparently it plays in the background and periodically makes announcements, including in the middle of the night. < snip >
Click to expand...
You can quit any app, killing it until the next time it's opened, by double-clicking the Home button to view recently used apps, touching & holding the icon of the app that you want to quit until it starts to wiggle and then touch the "minus sign" on the icon, effectively killing that app until you decided to open it again. That should get rid of the annoying announcements that you mentioned in your post.

You might want to periodically close the apps that accumulate in that area anyway because having a great many of them sometimes seems to cause devices to behave sluggishly.

Drat! Now I want a donut. ;)
 
lelisa13p said:
You can quit any app, killing it until the next time it's opened, by double-clicking the Home button to view recently used apps, touching & holding the icon of the app that you want to quit until it starts to wiggle and then touch the "minus sign" on the icon, effectively killing that app until you decided to open it again. That should get rid of the annoying announcements that you mentioned in your post.

You might want to periodically close the apps that accumulate in that area anyway because having a great many of them sometimes seems to cause devices to behave sluggishly.

Drat! Now I want a donut. ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you! Sounds like I need to read the IOS manual. I'll look for one. :)

Xenomorph said:
Turn off Notifications for the app to make it shut up, and do NOT let someone else use your password!
Click to expand...

Where do you turn off notifications for a particular app? Thanks!
 
Doesn't matter, I use an app that bypasses any In App Purchase fees.

Always safe and don't have to worry about crazy charges
 
Lukkee24 said:
Settings > Notifications
Then just find the app and you can modify the notification settings for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! :) Is there something equivalent to a IOS5 Tips and Tricks thread here? If not, after I accumulate enough of them, I'll consider placing them in a MR Guide.
 
iAmYou said:
You are asked for your iTunes account password for in app purchases.
Anyone that would give that out to a grandchild is, well... asking for trouble.
Click to expand...

It won't ask for your password during a 10 minute interval after you first enter it while making a purchase.

Not sure if that also applies to in-app purchases though.
 
rocknblogger said:
Want to elaborate?
Click to expand...

Jailbreak and use IAP Cracker.. Doesn't work for all games (iirc, none that use servers to authenticate the purchase), but it does for a decent amount. I've got it and it works for ~1/2 the games I've got which use IAPs.

Kilamite said:
It won't ask for your password during a 10 minute interval after you first enter it while making a purchase.

Not sure if that also applies to in-app purchases though.
Click to expand...

I believe you enter it once to buy apps in the app store for up to 10 mins, then again to make IAP's in a game for 10 mins.. at least I hope so lol
 
Huntn said:
?? I'm not understanding why this would be a huge data drag as compared to regular surfing?
Click to expand...

You go abroad and you roam a network. You only get calls and texts unless you have data roaming enabled, which costs an absolute fortune.
 
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